Hello!

This chapter (and the next) both use canon lines, and like I said previously not everything in italics is canon, but most of it is. I don't really have much else to say besides I truly hope that you all enjoy the chapter xxx.

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Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, and only the story line and any OC's belong to me.

Previously…

Hermione closed her eyes, and drowned out everything, the gentle summer breeze tousling through her locks, the cool water lapping at her legs.

Hermione was just thinking that nothing could ruin this moment, but then she stiffened because her ears perked up and barely caught a voice say "excellent," from across way, and the voice—which she recognized as Sirius's—said softly. "Snivellus."

A ball of dread furled up inside Hermione's stomach, her eyes widening in horror.

"What's all the commotion about?" Lily asked, taking a step forward—the water licked at her skin as if trying to hold onto the crimson haired girl.

"Lily, don't worry, I'll handle it," Hermione pleaded, clutching at the girl's hand.

"All right, Snivellus?" said James loudly.

Dammit Jamie, Hermione let out a string of muted curses, the dread expanding and bubbling up inside her—tying her stomach in tight knots.

Lily's ripped her hand from Hermione's grasp and marched out of the water, pulling her wand from behind her ear as she headed directly for the conflict.

"Lily!" Hermione called, the lake water splashing around her as she raced after her friend.

Snape dropped his bag, he plunged his hand inside his robes, and his wand was halfway into the air when James shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

Snape's wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

"Impedimenta!" he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet, halfway through a dive toward his own fallen wand.

Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had gotten to their feet and were edging nearer to watch. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained.

Hermione grimaced as she fought through the growing crowd surrounding the Marauders and Snape, catching sight of Lily just ahead of her—Hermione swore when a sharp, jagged rock stabbed into the soft underside of her bare foot, but she didn't have time to nurse inconsequential wounds: all she was concerned with was reaching Lily.

Hermione caught a glimpse of what was unfolding through the students in her way.

Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advanced on him, wands up, James glanced over his shoulder at the girls at the water's edge as he went, frowning when he didn't spot Hermione or Lily amongst the others.

Because I'm coming to throttle you—if Lily doesn't get to you first that is, Hermione promised mentally, glaring at tall boy that had instinctively pushed her back as she squeezed past him—she almost lost her balance—but he shrank away once he figured out who he'd shoved, well, that and the venomous growl that ripped from her lips might have scared him a wee bit as well.

Hermione was finally close enough so she could see a lot better, but she was still a ways away. The thing that made her eye twitch was that Remus was sitting, back against the tree trunk still staring down at his book, though his eyes were not moving and a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows. Not doing a damn thing.

"Oi, James. I think you've proved your point, he's a git," Draco said testily, on his brother's left, staring intently at the side of James's face.

James shook his head, and Hermione strained her ears to hear what he said lowly to Draco, "he can't threaten us like that and get away with it."

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" said James rather loudly, tilting his head mockingly at the Slytherin.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said Sirius viciously. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word." Several people watching laughed; Snape was clearly unpopular.

Wormtail sniggered shrilly. Snape was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes.

"You—wait," he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing. "You—wait. . . ."

"Wait for what?" said Sirius coolly. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

Snape let out a stream of mixed swear words and hexes, but his wand being ten feet away nothing happened.

"Wash out your mouth," said James coldly. "Scourgify!"

Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him—

"Leave him ALONE!"

Lily burst through the crowd, panting, hair sparking and wand at the ready. James flinched, looking around the same time as Sirius.

I need to get there now, Hermione thought desperately, grunting as she too finally broke through the throng of students, shoulders heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

"Remus?" Hermione asked in disbelief, throwing her arms up in the air.

Her boyfriend's eyes flicked up to her in shame, but he quickly averted his gaze.

Hermione only realised Draco was beside her when he spoke, causing her to flinch harshly but her head snapped up at him and she shot him an accusatory glare, "Remus is opting out of this because what Snape said spooked him," Draco explained.

"What he said to him?" Hermione repeated, her voice taking on a shrill quality and she stepped menacingly towards Draco.

Draco quickly recapped the catalyst for this very public incident: Snape had thrown out as he emerged from the shadows of the bushes and passed by their way, that he knew their little secret and that he was going to tell everyone.

James had snorted and dismissed the boy before Snape examined his nails with great interest and quite smugly said, "right—" firmly fixing his dark eyes on Remus, "—Moony."

It was then that Remus buried his nose into his book further, pretending to read as he clutched it with slightly trembling hands.

James and Sirius had instantly jumped up to defend their best mate, and the rest was history.

Hermione's mouth dropped open, but her attention was drawn back to current events as James addressed Lily—the entire time Draco had been giving Hermione the cliff notes, James had been whispering something to Sirius, only now looking back at the irate witch, who was this close to hexing him black and blue.

"All right, Evans?" said James, and the tone of his voice was suddenly pleasant.

"Leave him alone," Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike. "What's he done to you?"

Hermione went to take a step forward, but Draco grabbed ahold of her forearm— his firm but not unkind grip halting her abruptly in her tracks.

"We can't interfere, we can't," Draco said clenched teeth, grief threaded through each syllable.

"Well," said James, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…"

Many of the surrounding watchers laughed, Sirius and Wormtail included, but Remus, still apparently intent on his book, didn't, and neither did Lily.

"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."

James grimaced at the insult and behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch toward his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he crawled.

"Ouch, Prongs," said Sirius briskly, turning back to Snape. "OY!"

But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James's face, spattering his robes with blood. James whirled about; a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of graying Underpants.

Hermione snarled at the fact that Snape had just cut her brother, her familial bond flaring to life and she tried, unsuccessfully, to wrench free the arm Draco was holding captive.

Many people in the small crowd watching cheered. Sirius, James, and Wormtail roared with laughter.

Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile, said, "Let him down!"

"Certainly," said James and he jerked his wand upward. Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground.

"Finally," Hermione muttered bitterly, the scent of parchment and chocolate wafting into her nostrils and she spotted Remus walking along the outskirts of the crowd towards them. She raised an eyebrow when he reached them.

"So much for being a Prefect and stopping injustice," Draco drawled, eyes fixed on the scene before them.

Hermione shot her boyfriend a severely disappointed look, she had to say she agreed with Draco—Remus had the decency to duck his head in shame, fiddling with the cover of the book he'd hidden behind whilst being panic stricken.

"You both know how they get with Snape," Remus sighed heavily, toeing the ground. "They refuse to listen to reason when it comes to him."

"That doesn't mean that you stop trying," Hermione said coolly, turning back to bare witness to the events that she couldn't change, no matter how much it was killing her inside.

(None of them noticed that Peter had scampered away from all the commotion, heading in the direction of the girls still watching it all happen from the water's edge.)

Snape disentangled himself from his robes, he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Sirius said, "Petrificus Totalus!" and Snape keeled over again at once, rigid as a board.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted, the same time that Hermione yelled scathingly, "SIRIUS BLACK!"

Lily raised her wand threateningly, which gave both boys pause and they eyed it warily.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James earnestly.

Despite her irritation and suffocating disappointment Hermione snorted at that comment. James would never do anything of the sort, and everyone knew that.

"Take the curse off him, then!"

James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the countercurse.

"There you go," he said, as Snape struggled to his feet again, "you're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus—"

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

No one moved, Snape's words lingering, still echoing in all of their ears. The air was frozen and Hermione forgot how to breathe for a moment.

She couldn't imagine what it would be like to hear that slur from someone you cared deeply about.

Hermione's heart shattered when she caught sight of the rigid way Lily was now holding herself, her grip tightening on her wand as she lowered it slowly to her side.

Lily blinked. "Fine," she said coolly. "I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."

Draco squeezed Hermione's arm and in that moment she was beyond glad that she had him there with her.

"Apologize to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him.

"I don't want you to make him apologize," Lily shouted, rounding on James. "You're as bad as he is…"

"What?" yelped James. "I'd NEVER call you a—you-know-what!"

Lily scowled deeply, jutting her chin out defiantly.

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can—I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."

She turned on her heel and hurried away.

"Evans!" James shouted after her, "Hey, EVANS!"

But she didn't look back.

"What is it with her?" said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him.

"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," said Sirius.

"Right," said James, who looked furious now, "right—"

There was another flash of light, and Snape was once again hanging upside down in the air.

"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?"

"I've had enough of this shite," Hermione said pointedly to Draco, and after a long moment he nodded and relinquished his hold on her.

Hermione must have looked quite the sight: bare footed, hair whipping about everywhere, shirt untucked as she stormed over to her brother—wand in her non-dominant hand—as she pulled back her hand and with substantial force brought it forward, her open palm connecting with the side of his face, hard (the side that wasn't bleeding).

James was gobsmacked, staring at his sister in disbelief, losing his concentration and as a result dropping Snape—Hermione waved her wand without looking and softened Snape's fall with a cushioning charm.

"James Potter, you should be ashamed of yourself," Hermione hissed lowly, and with wild eyes she whirled around and yelled, "show is over people, get lost!"

The gathered crowd hurriedly dispersed and Hermione faced her brother and Sirius once more, sensing Draco and Remus's presence on either side of her.

Draco caught Snape's eye, "I suggest you piss off before she has a go at you for injuring our brother."

"Fuck off, Potter," Snape sneered, face burning in anger and embarrassment as he collected his things and stormed away.

Hermione peered up at Draco, "go and find Lily until I get there, please."

Draco nodded curtly, leaning down to press a kiss to her temple before striding towards the Castle.

"Hermione," James whispered, still in shock.

Hermione turned a harsh eye on the three remaining wizards, "you three. That went too ruddy far."

"He was threatening Remus, what were we supposed to do? Just stand there and take it?" Sirius asked, aghast.

"No, Sirius. You're not supposed to sink to his level, you're supposed to be better than that," Hermione said sadly, angry tears streaming down her cheeks.

Remus took a step towards her, but Hermione took two back, "not right now, Remus."

Hermione let her breath shudder out of her, closing her eyes and she felt a sharp dagger shoot through her leg—the pain of the large gash on the bottom of her foot making its presence known.

Hermione raised her chin, opening her eyes and she shook her head once before saying, "I expected better."

In her peripherals Hermione saw Alice hovering a few feet away with Hermione's things (as well as Lily's) floating in a neat bundle behind her, she shot the girl a watery yet grateful smile. "I need to go see, Lily."

With that she left the three boys alone, sinking into Alice as the girl silently wrapped her arms around Hermione and she led her back to the Castle.